Middlesex Council Rocker Set

Elias Schneider writes about the rockers
I was a Scout in neighboring Watchung Area Council and we had virtually identical rockers (but all had a orange color background-identical to two of the tent rockers on your picture). They had a practical use and when I became an adult Scouter and a volunteer District official I issued rockers for participation in Scouting activities. The rockers offered the ability to show brother scouts the extent of a Scout's participation in numerous activities - not just one activity or camp patch.

A rocker with a pine tree was for participation in a council conservation project. We planted pine tree seedlings on a barren mountain at Camp Watchung that today is a pine forest. A rocker with a camp fire or a tent was participation in a camporee. An igloo was participation in Operation Zero - winter camping in zero degree weather. A CW rocker was attending Camp Watchung. Some rockers were for the number of summers that a Scout attended the Council camp.

Don Turk comments on the rockers
The rockers shown are quite different from the later rockers with unit name and year. The rockers shown above show some of the unit activities and maybe unit events. These were "off the shelf" items offered by a couple of "ready made" generic patch manufacturers. National had not established rocker patch standards at that time. This allowed Camps and Councils the freedom to do what they wanted, as long as it didn't say BSA, in any form.

Doug Walker comments on the rockers
These are sewn on the merit badge sash of a Scout who has the Cowaw Pine Tree Patcjes 1, 2 and 3 sewn on the fron and a 1950s Cowaw R1 patch on the back of the sash. These camporee strips are 1 3/4" long by about 1/4" tall. They are most likely from a Raritan event held at Camp Cowaw.

Middlesex Council Patch Set
Council Issues Row 1 Column 5
rockers courtsey Doug Walker